In this Post:

A quick list of stuff happening in May/June. Tell us what you think (surveys!). Queer Country Social: May 20, and Dirty Water Saloon update.

Spring Stomp: a Hoedown in P-town was amazing!
Thank you all for making it such a great success (success = happy, smiling, sweaty, exhausted people). In the “Tell us what you think” section below, I have a survey to this year’s Stomp attendees and one for previous Stomp attendees too.

End of Year Annual Board Meeting, Saturday, June 17 (before the dance)
5:30-6:30 pm, 1st UU Church of JP.
GFP Members (those that bought a membership for the 2016/17 season) come talk about the year, elect a new board member, and strategize about the new year.

While we think of the end of the 2016-17 year as the June 17th Queer Country Social dance, our Dirty Water Saloon dances continues through July and August on Tuesday nights in air-conditioned loveliness.

Memorial Day Weekend – IAGLCWDC annual convention.
A bunch of us are going to Miami to partake of the annual convention in conjunction with Out Games. It should be a blast and we’ll post pics when we can. We’ll also be on the lookout for fun line dances and new dance moves to bring back to you.

Sunday, June 4 – Boston AIDS Walk.
Julie Kaufmann is walking again this year (as she has done since almost the beginning of this fundraiser) and she will be collecting at the May 20th dance. Trivia! Did you know it was at this walk in 1988 that Gays for Patsy was coined and formed? Go figure.

Sunday, June 4 – Queer Country “Sweet Tea” Social and Workshop: Pride Edition.
3-7 pm. 1st UU Church of JP.
Come at 3 for a hour-long workshop on Salsa with Elvi and Beth! Then dance from 4-7 to music by Ruth Ewing. Invite your friends! We’ll have informal two step lessons in the hall for anyone who is new.

Saturday, June 10 – Boston Pride Parade.
Gather 11 pm, March 12 noon,
We are marching this year! Kendra and I will have more information after this Sunday.

Saturday, June 17 – Annual Meeting before the dance.
5:30-6:30 pm • 1st UU church of JP
Members come elect a new board member (Bucky is stepping down), and talk about the year ahead. Let me know if you’d like to be our new board member.

2017-18 Queer Country Social and Stomp Calendar set.I’m hoping to get the dates into the calendar on the site this week. We’ll turn 30 in June 2018, so we’ll be having a special dance to celebrate. More details soon.

Tell us what you think!

Our last season of Queer Country Socials didn’t do well for the first time in my presidency. I’d like your opinions. Ever want to tell me off? Now’s your chance. You can be anonymous.

General GFP Survey. (about 3 mins.) survey on instructors, format, partner and line dances, and music. If you’ve not attended dances, I want to hear why.

Spring Stomp: A Hoedown in P-town surveys. One for those who attended last month’s Stomp and a survey for people who didn’t come this year but have attended one in the past. Your chance to tell me what you think. Don’t miss out!

Survey for 2017 Attendees (about 10 mins) A bit more in-depth than the general GFP survey, but I want to get your feedback, thoughts, and gather some quotes that I can use for next year. Fill out what you can. I definitely want to know about the instructors and your thoughts on line dances.

7-11 pm • • $12 suggested sliding-scale donation ($8 for GFP members)
First UU Church of JP • 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain (Boston), MAgaysforpatsy.org/queer-country-social
6:30-8 pm Lessons with Bob • 8-11 pm Social Dancing with DJ Art SullivanLessons: 6:30 pm – Beginner Two Step with Bob Sweeney
7:00-8:00 pm – Stomp Review with Bob Sweeney. We’ll look over our videos from Stomp and try to recreate moves and line dances taught during Stomp. Think of it as a peer review.Social Dancing: 8-11 pm with DJ Art Sullivan
Come dance the night away with DJ Art Sullivan while he plays a selection of music that you can two step, west coast swing, east coast swing, line dance galore, waltz and more.
Bring Extra $$ or a check to give to Julie for the Boston

Tuesdays, 7-10 pm • $10 suggested sliding-scale donation.
Bella Luna Restaurant and Milky Way Lounge, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MAgaysforpatsy.org/dirty-water-saloonWe are working on Two Step this month and reviews of line dances.Tonight:
7:00-7:45 pm: Alan Gaskell is teaching a two step move (he may be a few minutes late)
7:45: pm-8:15 pm: Kendra is teaching a line dance of some sort that will be fun
8:15-10:00 pm Bob is DJing the social dance portion

Learn West Coast Swing with Alan Gaskell at Dirty Water Saloon August 23 and 30, 2017

I realized I wrote a novella. So for those like me who hate to read:

In this email (just the facts mam):

IAGLCWDC Annual Convention in Miami Memorial Day Weekend – Early bird deadline Aug 30 – register now and book hotel if you’re going!

Opening GFP Queer Country Social dance SUNDAY September 11 from 3-7 pm. Featuring new line dance “So just Dance! Dance! Dance! and a performance by our award winning dance troupe, The Boston ReneGAYdes.

Alan Gaskell to teach West Coast workshop at Dirty Water Saloon, Tuesday, August 23 and 30! Also a special 90s theme night 8/30.

Gays for Patsy is Growing — a primer on what is GFP and what we offer

Out and About: American Sundays; Waltz with Merinda’s Hearth; Smokies; and Shopping!

IAGLCWDC 2017 Convention Early Bird Registration Ending August 30

Save $100 by registering nowScheduled to be Memorial Day Weekend, May 25–29, 2017, the next IAGLCWDC convention is in conjunction with World Outgames and, as such, the price, registration, and hotels are going to be going fast and furious. Early Bird Registration ($150) ends August 30, after which it will start to go up to $250.

Registration is through the Out Games but please read through the registration information on the IAGLCWDC site (https://outhoedown.com/2017/miami/) especially the section on directions. If you plan to compete the price will be charged separately. The competitions for this are medal events. Consider competing. You may come home with a gold bronze or silver. 🙂

Hotels Out Games has booked all the hotel rooms in Miami so if you haven’t already done so, do it through their site (link on the registration page). A number of us booked into the DoubleTree by Hilton Miami Airport & Convention Center after the Columbus hoedown to secure a room in advance. We will be sharing the hotel with Dancesport Ballroom and it will fill up quickly.

Opening GFP Queer Country Social Dance, SUNDAY, September 11

We decided to have our opening dance on Sunday this year as our usual Saturday slot is taken up by Open Studios. I’m excited that we are bringing back Sunday dances. It is a great time frame to both dance your butt off and still be ready for work and for those traveling from outside Boston, it also allows people to be home at reasonable time. We are keeping it simple the first time out, with just a basic two step at 3 pm with Beth followed by the line dance “So Just Dance! Dance! Dance! at 3:30 pm (teacher tbd — probably Kendra or myself). Then the DJ (tbd) will play from 4-7. Followed by ice cream at JP licks. If you loved Sundaydances, then here’s your opportunity to make sure they get reinstated next year. Ask your friends, talk it up on face book, etc. We have slated four spring Sundays that we hope to offer workshops for the lesson part.

Alan Gaskell to teach West Coast at Dirty Water Saloon Tuesday, August 23 and 30

Join us as Alan Gaskell teaches West Coast Swing lessons from 7-7:45. Followed by a line dance lesson from 7:45-8:15 (8/23: So Just Dance! Dance! Dance! with Kendra; 8:30 “Back Street Attitude” with Alia). From 8:15-10 Bucky will be DJing 8/23 and Sam will DJing 8/30. Sam’s playlist on 8/30 is a special “Back to the 90’s” playlist that should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there.

Gays for Patsy is Growing

Earlier this year we took over Dirty Water Saloon. I started to think about our dances and how they differ and how we should look at them. I think of Gays for Patsy as a parent with four children: Dirty Water Saloon, Queer Country Socials, Spring Stomp: a Hoedown in P-town!, and the ReneGAYdes. In all our dance venues, we offer country western dance instruction mostly focusing on two step, line dancing, west coast swing, and waltz. I hope to bring more styles into play like east coast, and more polka (at the IAGLCWDC convention in July, I learned a smoother less energetic way than the King and I version i learned growing up). The music we play will be contemporary country, pop, and r&b and be flavored by the DJ interests. The dance venues have their own personality though.

Queer Country Socials (QCS) I started calling the Saturday/Sunday dances “Queer Country Socials” a few years back (rather than the obscure official name “Lambda Ranch.”) I think QCS self describes the dance and is more likely to be picked up on search engines and social media than Lambda Ranch or even Gays for Patsy. Because it’s only run once (or twice) a month, the learning rate bit slower and it is a bit more country flavored than the other venues. We hope to reintroduce workshops in the spring adding it to the Sunday dances (tentatively a two step, a west coast swing (or two), and a line dance boot camp). These will replace the usual lessons on those days and require pre registration for them to run. We are working out the details for these still and should have more by the end of the fall to announce in the spring.

Dirty Water Saloon (DWS) is a weekly Tuesday night dance at Bella Luna Restaurant in JP. It features a little more funky music, a lot of line dances, and has a restaurant at hand to have food and adult beverages if one should so choose. They are more likely to play with the music choices and experiment with line dances than the Queer Country Social. Mostly this is do to the weekly nature. If you really want to up your two stepping and learn some line dance, this is where you should go.

Spring Stomp: A Hoedown in P-town! will be hosting our 25th year in 2017! We are planning stage right (targeting April 28-30) now but we are looking at the format and may expand it’s offerings a bit. We are exploring the additional costs of having two dance tracks for Saturday (beginners and intermediate), an additional Sundaymorning/early afternoon dance, and private lesson opportunities. If you would like to help explore these with me, please let me know. I hope to get numbers soon and set prices/deadlines by end of September.

The Boston ReneGAYdes have always been a part of Gays for Patsy and are starting to do more performances outside of our own dances. Beth’s last choreography was very well received in Columbus. We will be performing for the opening dance on September 11, please come and watch. Upcoming we’re planning performing in P-town this October, at the Big Apple Ranch in November. We are also looking for gigs too. A bit thank you to Beth for keeping us organized and for polishing our routines. If you think you’d like to join the Renegaydes, this would be a great time as we’re just discussing the next routine. A sign-up sheet will be at the Sept 11 dance and Dirty Water Saloon.

Out and About

Americana Sundays at Thunder Road in Somerville. 7-10 pm, $5 cover. Just a shout out to those of you who loved Americana Mondays with Greg Klyma. Greg has a new night and venue! Thunder Road is a new restaurant/bar that rose from the ashes of Radio. The place is very clean, with a modest dance floor that we can expand as needed, the bar food is “okay” (definitely eatable but not gourmet), and the bar is well stocked. The crowd is mixed (ie, straight and queer) and no one blinks an eye at same sex couples dancing. I’m going to miss the next few due to renegaydes practice but you’ll see familiar faces there. Greg is a showman that I thoroughly enjoy.

Waltzing Night with Miranda’s Hearth at the Democracy Center in Harvard Square on the 4th Sunday of the Month (August 28) from 6:30-11 pm. Jay and Ted have been going to this the past few months. It’s pretty cool from what they say.

Julie and Art go to Smokey’s (a dance at the Moose Lodge in North Reading. It’s mostly line dances. I’ll get more info out soon or on the website. It’s a straight suburban venue that I’ve gone to a couple times, nice people.

March forward

A “quick” update for this Saturday’s GFP Queer Country Social dance, Dirty Water Saloon, Spring Stomp (online ticketing!), Bob O’Donnell Remembrance, and Americana Mondays ending at the end of the month.

Next GFP Dance: Saturday, March 19, 2016

with special guests, the Manhattan Prairie Dogs and Ruth DJing!GFP’s Queer (folk) Country Social
1st Church of JP • 6 Eliot Street • Jamaica Plain, MA
Lessons: 6:30-8 pm, Social dancing: 8-11 pm.
I’m excited that we’re having the Big Apple Ranch’s performance dance troupe The Manhattan Prairie Dongs visit and perform for us at this weekend’s dance. If you’ve not seen them, they are a very impressive, fun, and saucy group. Beth Aufiero will be teaching the basic two step lesson and Art Sullivan will be doing the beyond the basic lesson and line dance lesson (I “think” American Kids). Ruth Ewing will be serving up the music for the social part of the evening. It should be a hoot!

Spring Stomp! Get yer tickets online!

April 22-24, Provincetown, MA
I updated information on the website about Spring Stomp, April 22-24, in Provincetown. This is our annual hoedown in P-town featuring a weekend of dancin’, socializin’, and learnin’. This year’s line up are: Friday night dance will have Bob Sweeney (that’s me) DJing, Saturday dance workshops Simone Assboeck from NYC to teach two step, west coast swing, and cha-cha workshops. Something new this year, we have Art Sullivan teaching two line dance workshops (he’s looking over the IAGLCWDC competition line dances and choosing from them) along with his usual basic two step workshop. Ruth Ewing will be DJing the Saturday night dance at Provincetown Town Hall and the Boston Renegaydes will be performing a fun routine choreographed by our own Beth Aufiero during the social part. New! Buy your tickets online! You can buy your Weekend Pass or any combo of dance/workshops online via EventBright! Or you can purchase the weekend pass at the GFP dances or Dirty Water Saloon, or at the door at Sage Inn and Lounge Friday night.

Dirty Water Saloon

Tuesdays, Bella Luna Restaurant (Milky Way Lounge) in the Brewery Complex, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, MA (Orange Line: Stoney Brook)
Partner dance lessons: 7-7:45, Line dance lesson: 7:45-8:15, social dancing 8:15-10 pm
GFP has taken over running of Dirty Water Saloon with the help of a committee made up of Sam, Kendra, Alia, Bucky, Jim, Ian, Dayna, and myself. We are trying some new things while we transition, but you can be sure that the format will still be the same. Here’s what’s tentatively scheduled for the next few weeks:

Tuesday, March 22, Sam will be DJing, the partner dance will be two step (I’ll get more details soon), Kendra will go over “Timber”.

Tuesday, March 29, Bucky is set to DJ a Retro Night (80’s music)

In April Ron will be teaching west coast swing.

More details to come and I’ll update the GFP website with more information soon.

Bob O’Donnell Remembrance

Long time dancer Bob O’Donnell passed November 7. There will be a Remembrance ceremony in his honor April 5, 2016 at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, Ma from 5-7 pm. Come for coffee, tea, and to sample some of Bob’s famous desert treats made from recipes passed down to his nephews. To RSVP and find out more, visit saratogaareas.com/Bobsrememberance.html.

Going… Going…

Americana Mondays will be no more after March. Come to PA’s Lounge on Somerville Ave the last two Monday’s in March to experience the magic that is Americana Mondays with Live music by Greg Klyma. These dances should be fun, with lots of friends joining him on stage and filling the dance floor. He plays old style country, a bit of blue grass, a bit of rockabilly, and just is a great showman. You can ask the contingent of folks like Julie, Harper, myself, Jay, and Ted how wonderful the night is and how we will miss our Mondays with Greg. He starts at 8 pm and runs to 11 pm. PA’s Lounge: 345 Somerville Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143.